Fastening means for roofing and siding material



Sept. 23, 1952 A. B. HAMMITT ET AL FASTENING MEANS FOR ROOFING AND SIDING MATERIAL Filed Jan. 22, 1946 LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL gill/114w. V a

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Patented Sept. 23,195,2

FASTENING MEANS FOR ROOFING smnvo MATERIAL AndrewxB. Hammittt and Herbert Birum, Jr

- Trenton, N. J o

Application January 22, 1946,,SerialNo, 6421536 i '1: Claim, 1

Our invention relates to fasteners for securticularly tofastenerawhich may be employed in securingsiding and roofing material to steelgirts and purlins of the framework'of" a building.

Heretofore when sheet material has; been applied to the roof orexterior walls of abuilding it has beennecessary to erect scaiioldingon the inside of the buildinginorder for'the workmen to apply nuts, toe clips orother securing means to bolts passed through the'sheet material from the exterior and to the structural elements of the building framework to which thesheet ma- 'terial is secured. This has been necessary because of the fact that thesizesof the sheets i and their arrangement-in an overlapping manner have made it impossible for the workmen on the exterior of the structure to reach over or around the sheets to fasten the toeclipsand'nuts or are located near a roofor side walls of a building itis not always possible-or convenient'to erect or support ascaffold in position" to be; accessible in theinterior of the structure so as tosecure the sheet material to the structural elements of the buildingframework. Furthermore; the cost of erecting such scaffolds and the time required to ,ments-ofthe framework, Moreover; ifthe ends of thebolts or fastening means are shipped off the dangerof corrosion is substantially increased andstaining of the outersurfaceof'tha sheet material is often encountered duegto the stripping away of the; galvanized protection on the: end of thebolt-andrusting.thereof;; ,This difiiculty is not: always overcome; even: when an extremely tight caulking'job is:provided since frequent inspection and pointing-up of: the caulking-isncessary due to movement of 'tlie' bolts and cracking of the caulkingupon expansion'or yieldlng'ofthe ing sheet material to a support and more-parframework and sheet material on ho't day r in highwinds. v Our invention overcomes these objectionstc constructionsof' theprior art and renders-itpossible to apply and secure sheet material tobuilding structures" without employing any'scaffolding on the'interior of the-building. At the same time all danger of" corrosion of the fastening means exposed onthe exterior of the building is eliminated.

These advantages are preferably attained by employing fastening means having a shank" provided on'one endwith an arcuate or-hook: shaped portion for engaging and-embracing a structural element. The fastening means also-may bei'ormed with an extremity which is offset laterally teen gage the structural element more seourely and to simplify insertion of the fastening means through an opening in the sheetmaterialwhich is of lim ited cross-sectional area. Thesecuring-meansf-urthermay be tightened entirely from the outsideby means ofan ordinary-nut or fastening element and the excess protrusion of the shank may be snipped offupon the completion of the work. Thereafter the space between the shank and the sheet material may be sealed and all danger of corrosion due to the exposure of ungalvanized portions of the bolt may be precluded byemploying a-deformable sealing element or'washer which serves to hold the shank in place and also serves to protect the end of the bolt from-corrosion due to the exposure to the weather of, the ungalvanized' cut portion of the shank.

One of the Objectsof ourinvention is topmvide. afastener for roofing or siding material which may be inserted and; drawn up entirely fromithe exterior of a structure, f

Another object of our'invention is, to provide a novel method of inserting and tightening; said bQlt Without recourse to interior scaffolding.

A' further object of" our invention is to provide novel means for the sealing ofthe exposed. portion of'a fastener for sheet material so as to .protect' it against the weather; v

A still further object of: Our inventl'ohfiS to provide a novel type of, washer which willggive an adequateseal against theweather. a

These and other objects and features of: our invention; will readily appear from the. following description thereoi in which, reference" is madeto the figures of the accompanying drawing,

nthe drawin s:

, Fig; lis a perspective of a preferred aim ourinvention as applied'in'ruse with parts'of 55 building broken away.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a construction using an alternative form of our invention.

In that form of our invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to of the drawings the fastening means is adapted for use in securing sheet material to any one of a variety of types and sizes of girts'or purlins constituting structural elements in the framework of a building. As shown, a single type and size of fastening means may be used even though the structural elements vary and are in the form of channel beams, I-beams, angle iron or conventional wooden timbers. At the same time the fastening means may be applied and secured in place by workers located only on the exterior of the building.

These advantages are attained by forming the fastening means ofa rod or bar of material which preferably is circular in cross-section and is generally J-shaped in appearance with a straight shank 2 threaded at 4 to receive retaining means 6 located on the exterior of the sheet material 8. The shank 2 extends through an opening III in the sheet material which preferably is circular in form and somewhat larger than the shank 2. The opposite end of the fastening means is provided with an arcuate portion l2 which is shaped to extend about and embrace the edge l4 of the structural element opposite to that upon which the sheet material is located. The size and radius of curvature of the portion l2 therefore should be such as to exceed the width of the edge i4 so that the extremity I6 of the arcuate portion will extend upward 0n the side of the structural element opposite to the shank 2.

The extremity I6 of the arcuate portion also 'may extend laterally from the arcuate portion so that it may overlie the flange I8 of a channel beam or I-beam with which it is used as i1lustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. When the structural element is a conventional wooden timber the extremity l6 also tends to bite into or become embedded in the timber so as to aid in securing the fastening means in place when it is drawn up by the retaining means for securing the sheet material to arcuate portion of the fastening means also renders it easier to insert the fastening means through an opening ID in the sheet material which is of limited diameter and in fact the whole arcuate portion of the fastening means may be curved somewhat so as to have a general helical shape to permit the fastening means to be threaded through the opening l0 most readily. In applying the fastening means to a sheet and structural element it is positioned as shown in.v

'4 dotted lines in Fig. 1 with the shank 2 lying nearly parallel to the sheet material or in the valley between adjacent corrugations and with the extremity I 6 of the arcuate portion I 2 inserted into opening Ill located adjacent to one edge of the structural element. The arcuate portion is then threaded through the opening, turndug the arcuate portion away from the structural element by' holding the shank 2 and turning the fastening means about. A mark 20 on the shank,

which may be paint or a longitudinally extendto cause the extremity l6 to overlie the flange l8 of the structural element, if it is in the form of a channel beam or an I-beam, or to bite into the wood of a conventional timber. Furthermore, if the structural element is in the form of an angle iron the arcuate portion may be turned to insure positioning of the edge of the angle iron at the lowermost point in the arcuate portion of the fasteningv means. It will thus be apparent that the arcuate portion is adapted to engage and embrace structural elements which differ greatly in width and form without sacrificing or decreasing its effectiveness. I

After positioning the arcuate portion and offset extremity of the fastening means as described the sheet material is secured thereto and to the structural elements by suitable retaining means engaging the shank. As shown, the shank is threaded at 4 and the retaining means 6 includes a nut 22-v and a washer 24 which may be drawn up by means of a conventionalwrench to bear against the outer surface of the sheet material so as to urge-it forcibly toward the structural elements and secure it firmly in place thereon. In order to afford further protection against the weather and to eliminate lateral play or looseness between the shank of the fastening means and the sheet material, a member 26 is provided which is formed of lead, babbitt or other deformable material and has a tapered body 28 for sealing the space between the shank and edges of the opening Ill. The body 28 has a central passage 30 therethrough so that it may be slipped over the shank 2 into a position in which the lower end 32 of the body extends into the opening I! in the sheet material and the side walls 34 of the body bear against the edges of the opening. A steel or other hard washer 24 bears against the outer face 38 of the body and preferably is of greater diameter than the opening [0 so that when the nut 22 is turned downward on the shank and against the washer the body 28 of the sealing means will be deformed to seal the space between 'the shank and the' sheet material and fixedly position and retain-the shank in place with respect to the sheet material. It will be apparent from-the foregoing description thatth'e shank 12"of the fastening means should be of suflicient length to manipulate the arcuate :portion' thereof from the exterior of the building and to permit the fastening means to be place. Thereaftenthe protruding end. ofthe shank is cut off and since the fastening means is generally formed of galvanized iron rod it is desirable to protect the cut end thereof from corrosion. For this purpose protecting means are provided and as shown they may be carried by and formed integral with the body 28 of the sealing means so as to form a unitary element. In this construction the body 28 is provided with a laterally extending wing or flange 49 which is of such length or shape that it may be folded over the cut end 42 of the shank and may be hammered down or pressed into place over the end 42 to seal the end against exposure and corrosion. A neat, finished and attractive construction is thus provided on the exterior of the sheet material and the shank is held securely in place and protected against the weather.

With this construction all operations necessary for applying the fastening means to the structural framework and sheet material and for securing the fastening means in place can be performed by operators located on the exterior of the building. The usual scaffold on the interior of the building and the time and expense for constructing and moving the scaffold are thus entirely eliminated and the cost of applying the sheet material is greatly reduced. Furthermore, corrosion of the fastening means is prevented so that staining of the sheet material does not occur and caulking of the openings through which the fastening means extend is not required.

The sheet material secured to the structural elements may be of any type, but our invention has particular advantages when employed for applying corrugated sheets of cement-asbestos compositions. With such sheets the openings through which the fastening means extend are generally formed in the crown of the corrugations and the shank of the fastening means may be placed in the valley when inserting the offset end of the arcuate portion through the opening. It is also possible when using our invention to employ a single fastening means for securing both insulation and corrugated sheet material to the structural framework of a building. Thus as shown in Fig. 5 the fastening means may be applied to the insulating sheet 44 and secured in place by nuts 46 and washers 48 which if desired may be applied only loosely to prevent injury to soft insulating material. The corrugated sheets may then be drilled to provide openings positioned to receive the projecting ends 50 of the shanks of the retaining means and other retaining means 52 such as'those described above may be applied to the outer ends of the shank on the exterior of the corrugated sheet. The nuts 45 are then located in the space beneath the crowns of the corrugations and when the outer retaining means 52 are drawn up tightly the nuts 46 may be drawn away from the insulation somewhat but the pressure of the corrugated sheet against the insulation will hold both sheets securely in place.

In order to apply the nuts 4'6 to the shanks of the fastening means it is necessary for the shank to be threaded for the greater part of its length. In fact, as shown in Fig. 6 the fastening means may be formed from stock consisting of lengths of rod which are threaded continuously throughout the length thereof and in that event the threads on the arcuate and offset portions of the fastening means bite into the structural elements or present a frictional surface which aids in holding the fastening means securely in place.

Many other modifications in the form and construction of devices embodying our invention may be made and for this reason it should be understood that the embodiments of our invention herein shown and described are intended to be illustrative only and are not intended to limit the scope of our invention.

We claim:

In a building structure embodying sheet material applied to a structural framework element having an inner laterally extending flange and having an opening in the sheet material located adjacent the structural framework element, the combination of means securing said sheet material to said element including a rod having one end which is threaded and projects through said opening, the opposite end of said rod having a laterally extending portion being angularly disposed with respect to the edges of said flange provided. at its end with an inwardly turned extremity which is spaced from said rod a distance exceeding the width of said flange and embracing and overlying the edge of said flange, said extremity being off-set so as to project to one side from a plane containing said rod and laterally extending portion so as to permit insertion of the extremity into said opening and subsequent lengthwise threading of the fastening means through the opening from the exterior of the sheet and into retaining engagement with the framework element, deformable sealing means surrounding the threaded end of said rod, and retaining means engaging the threads on said rod and cooperating with said sealing means for filling the space between said rod and the sides of the opening to seal the opening and hold said fastening means and sheet material in place on said structural element.

ANDREW B. HAMMITT.

HERBERT L. BIRUM, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 277,528 Wright May 15, 1883 980.567 Schneider Jan. 3, 1911 1,266,836 Lyon May 21, 1918 1,529,697 Hall Mar. 17, 1925 1,540,339 Jones 1 June 2, 1925 1,576,727 Deniston, Jr Mar. 16, 1926 1,713,903 Hinkson May 21, 1929 1,909,559 Wagner May 16, 1933 1,971,047 Moritz Aug. 21, 1934 2,014,451 Pfeifer, Jr Sept. 17, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 118,776 Great Britain 1918 823,539 France 1937 554,058 Great Britain 1943 

